Waking Gods

"26 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground on the palm of what seems to be a giant metal hand. 9 years ago: She is a top-level physicist leading a team of people to understand exactly what thathand is, where it came from, and what it portends for humanity. Today: with the remainder of the giant robot found and assembled, every question answered about the mysterious contraption raises two more. But the team behind the greatest discovery of thelast millennium might be out of time when a second robot suddenly appears, looming over downtown London"--Provided by publisher.

From the critics

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Waking Gods is the sequel to Sleeping Giants and the book does what it is suppose to - advance the plot. It's an ok book. If you're invested in the trilogy then you'll be giving this book a read all the same.

The second book in the "Themis Files" trilogy has a character return and a lot of new ones show up (wink-wink). In an attempt to not spoil anything, all I can say is a lot of questions get answered and some new ones get asked. The format follows book one, in that it is told in a series of interviews and diary entries. I'm still a fan of this style as it makes for a quick read. If you enjoyed the first book, you'll enjoy the second. I've already started the third, and I'm curious as to the direction this trilogy will finish in.

Waking Gods is the entertaining sequel to Sleeping Giants, and was absolutely written to be made into a movie. I think it'll actually be a more entertaining movie than a book.... while I enjoyed reading it, I also just don't care that much about the characters, maybe seeing them in movie form would allow me to feel more for them.

This is the action-packed sequel to *Sleeping Giants.* This time, more evil giant alien robots invade earth and it's up to the newly formed Earth Defense Corps to stop them using Themis, their own salvaged giant alien robot. This, of course, would be an easier task if the EDC could actually figure out how to make Themis move.

This second book in the proposed trilogy is a step down from the first book. The interview/file report/diary entry format used in the first book was engaging; almost like reading a screenplay (does Neuvel have film hopes?), but it doesn’t work anywhere near as well in this second book. With everything that needs deeper explanation, he must add many pages of straight narrative disguised under the previously established rubrics. While the text is necessary for understanding, it disturbs the flow. He also scatters Star Wars references, including in his acknowledgements. There are battle scenes between giant robots using grand-scale lightsabers as weapons, and all kinds of death and dying.
I like the underlying puzzle that will be carried into the third book in the trilogy, but it now looks as if there will be several hours of slogging through the book to reach the resolution. After a high level of anticipation for this second part, my hopes for the third part are greatly diminished.

Wow, this second book was so awesome that I couldn't put it down! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! How do you write a review without giving stuff away!?! So I guess I will say this: the sequel was even better than the first book... and now once again... the dreaded wait for the third installment. gah!

In Waking Gods, the genre elements of Sleeping Giants are intensified, and the plot becomes more fast-paced. There is now no question that Themis has alien origins, or that aliens visited earth long ago, and that some of them stayed behind. Waking Gods explores the fallout of these conclusions, but also the more dramatic effects of the aliens becoming aware of how humanity has developed since their last contact. At the same time, the aliens are not significant characters, since this is really an exploration of what it means to be human. Although the duology stands well together, the epilogue hints at the possibility of further adventures.

I loved this book even more than the first in the series, Sleeping Giants. The many unexpected twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I really enjoy the format that the author uses to tell the story through various reports, journal entries, and interviews. Oh, and that ending!!! I cannot wait until the next book. Seriously. I need to read it NOW!

Summary

Almost a decade has passed since the events of Sleeping Giants, when Rose Franklin and her team hunted down and assembled the pieces of the giant alien robot known as Themis. Rose has dedicated her time to studying Themis, and Kara and Vincent have continued to try to master operating her. Then another robot materializes in the middle of London, and the government’s response inevitably leads to a deadly confrontation. The appearance of Hyperion also drives home how little the Earth Defense Corps really knows about Themis’ combat capabilities. And that knowledge will be more necessary than ever when more robots begin to materialize around the globe, in the world’s most populous cities. The aliens know that humanity has found Themis, and they are not happy about it.

Brace for impact. Neuvel’s first book, Sleeping Giants, follows the reports, diary-entries and interviews surrounding the discovery and subsequent assembly of enormous artifacts that form a giant – and distinctly inhuman – robot. Dubbed Themis, after an ancient but benevolent Titaness, she poses huge questions – were did she come from? Who put her there? What is she meant for? Neuvel puts these questions are through the filters of science, religion, philosophy and perhaps deadliest of all - politics.

Sleeping Giants ends on a cliffhanger, (SPOILER) with the scientist in charge of Themis suddenly back from the dead, and its sequel, Waking Gods, picks up from there at breakneck speed. The stakes are much, much higher. We find out (vaguely) where Themis came from. We find out – explosively – that she is not the only giant, glowing inhuman robot. Some of the questions of the first novel are answered, and not in ways we might like or expect. Other, even more massive questions grow out of those answers.

One would expect that Neuvel’s books are action-thrillers, focusing solely on the giant robots in the room, but therein lies the brilliance of Neuvel’s story-telling: the suspense is built through the very human reactions to the robots’ presence. The action is described by the human characters experiencing it. We the readers are not allowed the comfort of the “all seeing eye”, watching everything unfold at a safe distance; the story-telling is completely immersive, which makes it exhilarating to say the least. It will challenge your beliefs and what you think you might know. It will challenge your sense of ethics and what you feel is right and wrong. It will both haunt and excite you as a result.

Sleeping Giants was long-listed for Canada Reads, and was a sleeper hit of last year. Fasten your seatbelts folks, because Waking Giants is a ride like no other.

Robyn Godfrey
Adult Outreach and Collections Librarian

Quotes

I’m grateful for Themis, to be in her company every day. I feel drawn to her. She isn’t of this world either. She doesn’t belong here any more than I do. We’re both out of place and out of time, and the more I learn about her, the closer I feel to understanding what really happened to me.